I like to lift heavy things, make colorful food, write, and talk about pop culture.

A Week In Review

And here we are at Monday once again. I’m not quite sure how time is flying by, but that just reinforces how much we have to enjoy the time we do have!

This past week started off the right way with these delicious pancakes.

Next came two eggs over easy and buttered toast with jelly. Fruit always comes on the side, this time with pineapple raspberries, and blueberries.

My oatmeal looks quite foamy, but it is probably because I had a lot of problems with the milk that morning. It kept boiling over! Nonetheless, third time was the charm and I finally got to dig into these peanut butter oats with fruit.

I showcased these bad boys last week with the recipe I developed my own self! Apple cinnamon cakes stuffed with apples and cinnamon, dish, and topped with maple peanut butter!

I was in the mood for eggs this I guess because here are two more over easy with toast and fruit. I had already started eating when I realized I needed to snap a picture!

A quick breakfast was needed on Saturday morning because I had a lot to do! My mom and I headed out to the grocery store early to prepare for the party later that night. After, I headed back to my alma mater to sponsor my cousin Erin during her Junior Ring and Tassle Ceremony. Proud cousin moment!

Toast and peanut butter and jelly with fruit was the perfect remedy.

To end my week of breakfasts, I had more eggs, this time poached over toast with a dash of spinach and fruit that wasn’t pictured. Divine!

On Monday afternoon, the whole family came together to celebrate my dad’s birthday! We had an amazing chicken dinner with roasted potatoes, stuffing, squash, green beans, and Brussels sprouts. To end the night we has the best homemade ice cream cake. I was full the rest of the night so this counted as lunch and dinner.

After this, lunch gets pretty boring because it’s all black bean soup. I made a batch of this copy cat Panera black bean soup Tuesday afternoon and devoured it all week long. In my version, I took the liberty of stocking it with tons of veggies!

I wasn’t lying! This one was served with brown rice and cheese!

And here we have more soup, this time jazzed up a bit with leftover steak tip and broccoli. Instead of rice, I went with a piece of grilled pumpkin bread.

Oh look, more soup. Simply served with cheese and a side of tostitos. It was very good and filling.

Oh good, not soup! This was a lunch out after the Ring and Tassle Ceremlny. I went with the shrimp and chicken stir fry in a sesame sauce with snap peas, peppers, portabella mushrooms, and jasmine rice. So tasty! I ate it all up!

Finally, we visited my brother on Sunday afternoon and stopped for lunch. I am not a huge roast beef fan, so I chose a chicken patty with barbecue sauce and cheese. When I first ordered it, I thought “sauce” meant marinara, but despite being surprised, it was excellent. It does not however, look very appetizing.

To start of dinners, I had a crockpot beef short rib dish served with squash, mashed potatoes, and leftover Brussels sprouts and green beans. I am newly a huge fan of short ribs! This one was really on topped with barbecue sauce. The angle of the picture looks like I went a little hand heavy with the mashed potatoes, but sometimes a girl can’t help it.

This stir fry was comprised of grilled chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, and peppers in a red Thai curry sauce over coconut basmati rice. I didn’t love the curry, but the flavor wasn’t too overwhelming so it sufficed.

Shrimp over whole wheat bow tie pasta, spinach and peppers, and a Caesar salad was an excellent dinner on a rainy night! The shrimp marinated in lime and butter and had huge flavor!

To start off the weekend, I spent a night babysitting. The fridge was empty from a week’s worth of meals, so I went for a salad out. This was a Greek salad with grilled buffalo chicken which made me so super excited! Unfortunately, the only issue was that the restaurant gave me Blue Cheese dressing instead of Greek. Yuck! I do not like Blue Cheese! Luckily, the salad contained a ton of flavor without it, so I only drizzled a little on top.

Saturday night at the party, we had appetizers and pizza. I tried to fill up with veggies from the veggie plate I made and had two pieces of red pepper pizza. I also had a taste of artichoke dip, some crabbies- crab and cheese on top of chopped up. toasted English muffins, a cookie, and some amazing autumn sangria. I didn’t snap any pictures. Whoops.

To end the week, I chopped up some veggies and leftover shrimp to go over a salad, with real Greek dressing, and leftover pizza. Divine!

This week, I’m really trying to focus on cleaning up my diet. With the holidays coming, starting with Halloween- which comes earlier and earlier- all the way through New Years, it can be a difficult time to maintain a clean diet. As I mentioned, I will be coming up with a post featuring a lot of tips during this time. Not one says to deprive yourself, by the way! Winter and the cold weather is difficult in itself because we crave warmth, comfort, and solace and food is a great source. It’s all about making healthier choices for these dishes! More to come!